UK Wii bundle instead of price cut

By Robert Purchese Published 23 September, 2009

Wii Sports, WSR, WMP and console.

A trusted retail source has told Eurogamer that the UK will receive a special Wii bundle this Christmas instead of a price cut.

The console will be combined with Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus as well as the original Wii Sports game and a nunchuk, according to the retailer, but the price will remain £199.99.

Update: ShopTo has just listed the bundle and claims it's only 12 days away from a 5th October launch. Our original source says it may go on sale as soon as "next week".

Nintendo has declined to comment on "rumour and speculation".

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (35) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • wizlon #1 2 years ago

    Packing all that in for £180 would be fair, You can pretty much get that deal from the high street for £200 now anyway.

  • GingerNathan #2 2 years ago

    They should at least put in an extra controller, nunchuck, WM+, and some Wii points for that price.

  • JahB #3 2 years ago

    not worth it. you'd still need at least another wii remote/nunchuk/motion plus (since wii sports offers its best entertainment when played with other people), and that'll bring you to the price of a 360/PS3.

    in other words: very little value for £200

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #4 2 years ago

    Edit: a nunchuk will also be included. Triple-checking all these details elsewhere.

  • systems #5 2 years ago

    Would be a cracking deal with Wii Fit, or a second full set of controllers. But as people have said, they can already get this deal from most supermarkets these days.

    It will sell like hot cakes though. There are a lot more non-gamers in the UK than gamers and all the oldies and kiddies will lap them up. Two of my non-gaming mates bought Wiis this month alone (because
    "they don't like all the buttons on the 360 and PS3";).

  • uglygamer #6 2 years ago

    I am trying to get rid of my Wii, not buy another one. I cant think many gamers who will want the Wii anymore, Nintendo have gone a different route which has been successful but recently things havent been so great

  • majora #7 2 years ago

    you would be very stupid indeed to pick up a WII instead of a 360 elite or ps3. I just dont know how the WIIs price can be justified compared to its rivals which both have far superior graphics,software and online.plus the ps3 plays blu rays to boot

    And now for the point that internet people always forget. The type of people buying the Wii don't care that the online is bad, or the graphics are worse or that it doesn't play Blu-Rays. They want the Wii because it plays Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit and Wii Sports and Mario and Sonic at the Olympics. You see, to them, the PS3 and 360 would have an inferior library. Or do you think Nintendo's expanded audience would rather pick up a PS3 or 360 and some bang bang shooty games like Call of Duty, Uncharted and Halo instead?
    Edited by 1 at 23/09/09 @ 15:17

  • SUNDANSS #8 2 years ago

    You may see it as poor value, but Mr & Mrs average family have no idea that the Wii is just a collection of left over Gamecube parts. So all that for the same price as another console only looks like great value to them, again the Wii will come out on top and fat chav mums will justify buying it as they think will all become MILFS in just 10 weeks from using the Wii fit. Nintendo will be laughing all the way to the bank again.

  • CallousB #9 2 years ago

    "but the price will remain £199.99."

    Well the price is still £179 (or less) everywhere that I can see..so is the price going to "remain" at £179 or go up to £199 due to the extras?

  • Pirotic #10 2 years ago

    It's pretty vital for the long term that they start packing the motion plus in with the system itself, but £199 is still far too high and wouldn't really represent much of a saving over the bundles which are already available, certainly not the $50 saving the US are getting and we've already had the price hiked up due to the weak pound, so that's the excuse this time?

  • mattigan #11 2 years ago

    But it's got teh waggle stik

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #12 2 years ago

    Price of UK Wiis was upped to £199 a while ago because of a naff sterling exchange rate.

  • spekkeh #13 2 years ago

    Probably the clever thing to do. Making the console cheaper than the competition now would only create the image in the mind of the unknowing consumer that it is somehow inferior, and needs a lower price point in order to be sold. Of course we all know that this is the case, but we already bought our consoles.

  • HermitArcader #14 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • varsas #15 2 years ago

    Seems all the current gen consoles are around the same pricepoint this xmas and you would be very stupid indeed to pick up a WII instead of a 360 elite or ps3.

    Actually both HD machines are £50 more expensive; 360 owners need to shell out for a wireless adaptor.

    @designerheadache: There is only 1 wii remote so only 1 wmp is required.
    Edited by 1 at 23/09/09 @ 16:11

  • sickpuppysoftware #16 2 years ago

    Still about £99 too expensive for me. Still they must be shifting enough that they don't care.

  • Widge #17 2 years ago

    They don't "need" to

  • Darren #18 2 years ago

    I think it's ridiculous that Nintendo have admitted they've been making profits on the Wii hardware since its launch, totally unlike Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3, yet theirs is the only console that has increased in price in the 2.5 years it has been out.

    That bundle doesn't represent very good value for money in my opinion because the hardware itself is vastly overpriced. The Wii should be £100 or less by now given the dated hardware inside it and the other stuff included in the bundle amounts to one full-priced game (Wii Sports Resort), an old tech demo in effect (Wii Sports) and an add-on that only turns the Wii remote into something it should have been in the first place, i.e. accurate!

  • JahB #19 2 years ago

    @lord

    the 50 million you speak of don't perceive console value, they're just horribly ill informed. it's rock solid marketing that led to that 50 mil number, not value or quality.

  • electrolite #20 2 years ago

    As pointed out, a lot of retailers are offering something similar to this anyway, but if they can still add on an equivalent bundle on top of this, it still makes it better value.

    They have such a penny-pinching attitude though Nintendo. When Sony had a huge lead with PS1 they dropped the price to £129 to turn the screwon N64 and Saturn. They didn't "have" to but they did. Nothing like that from Nintendo.

  • jmg123 #21 2 years ago

    £199 or $199 hmm last time I looked the exchange rate was 1.64USD to the GBP so Nintendos real message is

    "Screw you UK peeps, you are all thick, so we shall charge you $326 for a $199 product."

  • Toadie48 #22 2 years ago

    Hmmm... it's an intersting move by Nintendo. Usually this far into a consoles life span there is some kind of a price drop, but the Wii is selling so well even now that Nintendo are packing in games and accesories. I still don't think it's worth it but because the game is Wii Sport Restort and it has the motion plus and nunchuk kids without a Wii are gonna go crazy for this deal.

    I can see it now.
    Playground console debate
    kid a: 'I got my Wii last year and have Twilight Princess for it'

    kid b: 'I just got my Wii last week and it came with the new Wii sports the motion plus thing and nunchuk'

    kid a: 'wicked!!!'
    Edited by 1 at 23/09/09 @ 16:49

  • MARKIV #23 2 years ago

    Make it available in black and maybe, just maybe..

  • FogHeart #24 2 years ago

    Not the right package. The Wii is a console that comes into its own when people play together, in the same room. There are great single player experiences to be had, yes, but when families unbox it at Christmas they don't want to watch little Timmy play on his own. The will want to play with little Timmy - like they see the parents on TV doing.

    Needs two controllers in the box. Up the price if need be - but if Nintendo wants more of that 'Wow quality time with my kid playing video games together' feeling that hooks the parents into buying more games for the kids - because they will want to play it themselves then they really should have put in a second controller.


    And FOR CRYING OUT LOUD what does it take to make the Wii naysayers accept that the majority of Wii gamers are buying it because of the ease of use inherent in motion control? Yet they STILL hark on about the online, the graphics, blah blah blah. You CANNOT convince them that they should be praying at those altars instead.
    Edited by 1 at 23/09/09 @ 17:53

  • CallousB #25 2 years ago

    @EverAfter

    It's got quite a few "gamer" games IMO..although most will sadly be ignored by "gamers".

    Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles, Silent Hill Shattered Memories, Dead Space Extraction, COD:MW - Reflex, New Super Mario Bros, Rabbids Go Home, A Boy and his Blob, Tales of Symphonia:DOTNW, Lost Winds 2, Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Seems good in terms of known franchises and niche hardcore games.

    ..of course it's hard to say if any are "killer" games..as "killer" games tend to be the games which are marketed the most....and I doubt EA/Capcom will spend a 20th as much marketing Dead Space/ Resident Evil on the Wii as they did on the 360/PS3 games (if they market them at all).

  • TheDudesRug #26 2 years ago

    Huge credit to nintendo for managing to sell this product for anything like £200.

  • smelly #27 2 years ago

    "not worth it. you'd still need at least another wii remote/nunchuk/motion plus, and that'll bring you to the price of a 360/PS3. "


    But surely if you're going to make that (rather poor) argument, then the 360 would need 2 games and an extra controller (not making it look so cheap) oh.. and lets not forget a $100 (?!?) wifi adapter..

  • smelly #28 2 years ago

    >they could be playing Halo, Grand Theft Auto and Gran Turismo instead?

    Having played Halo 3 - more of the samey sameysome
    GTA 4 - boring as hell compared to the fun which was vice city, pales in comparision to Saints Row 2
    Gran Turismo - yawn

    I can see why...

  • smelly #29 2 years ago

    "£199 or $199 hmm last time I looked the exchange rate was 1.64USD to the GBP"


    *sigh*.. I sometimes REALLY wish gamers actually paid ANY kind of attention at school.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #30 2 years ago

    @donnie080208 JahB and the other morons

    Nintendo make a profit on their main hardware, Sony and MS do not. Completely different business strategies.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #31 2 years ago

    Meanwhile, with their profits, Nintendo have built a new R& D site dedicated to the future of gaming, whilst Sony and Microsoft are still struggling to bring out a device to capture the market Nintendo has (in between looking for the next search engine or blu-ray replacement) Remember there were non gamers who bought the NES too. And there will be non gamers who buy Nintendo's next machine, regardless of the price or what innovations are present. After all, they're just toys, and at half the price of the latest smart phone they all look good value.

  • smelly #32 2 years ago

    I'd have thought making sure every new wii sold having a WMP (and wii sports resort) is a bloody good idea.

    Somehow i dont see natal & milo being bundled with the 360 for no extra price.

    Sure - i'd have liked to have seen a price cut AND the bundle... But 2 free games, and a WMP packed in? They'll fly off the shelves!

  • captainrentboy #33 2 years ago

    ''360 owners need to shell out for a wireless adaptor.''
    I've had my console since launch, have been on Live since then too and guess what? I don't own a wireless adaptor. :)

    Anyway like a few have said, most retailers have been doing bundles like this since the RRP went up.
    I haven't seen the sales figures for Nintendo since this price increase but I've noticed a huge drop in Wii sales in my store. IMO, judging by the fact that Nintendo are now sticking these extra bits and bobs in officially, I'd say even they're aware that the Wii is really not worth £200 for the bare bones machine.
    And weren't they selling it for a profit way back when it was first launched? :/

  • EMarkM #34 2 years ago

    Simple rule for any gamers out there that don't understand economics:-

    The market finds its own level. Period.

    Goods are sold at the cost that people are prepared to pay. It doesn't matter whether *you* perceive the Wii to be good value or not, it just matters what the majority think.

    As has already been said a number of times on this thread (and many others), people value different things in the gaming world, and "hardcore gaming" is NOT winning this generation's "console war". It just isn't.

    As for myself, I currently own a Wii, DS, 360 and iPhone. The only one being used for gaming at the moment is the Wii, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

    Am I a "hardcore gamer"? I've been playing video games since the 1970s, have had a huge selection of the available gaming hardware over the years including the original Nintendo Game & Watches, Frogger and Munchman consoles, Amigas, Playstations, etc. I live and breath video games and work in the IT industry, and I ONLY play on Wii at the moment.

    We're all different, but the market finds its own level.
    Edited by 1 at 23/09/09 @ 21:20

  • secombe #35 2 years ago

    Considering people were/are happily paying £180+ for a Wii and Wii Sports and have been for several years now, I imagine the majority will actually see this as a pretty good deal, when I read it I thought it was pretty reasonable.

    If they could have squeezed another WMP into the deal it would have been exceptional, but I guess Nintendo don't feel they need to put a squeeze on their profits that much, and it's hard to blame them considering how well it's been selling so far.